I watched this video over and over again today. Some of you may recognize some of the lyrics you hear as the song God of this City from Chris Tomlin's new album. Scottish worship band Bluetree was in Pattaya, Thailand for a worship festival back in 2006. While they were playing on the street, an owner of a bar asked if they would come play in his club. They immediatley noticed upon arrival that this bar was more than just a place to dance and get your drink on. As you can probably surmise from the video, they found themselves in the middle of Thailand's sex trade, which is considered to be the epicenter of human trafficking worldwide, especially children. It is estimated that 200,000 to 300,00 women and children are trafficked into Thailand each year and forced into a cycle of bondage, rape and oppression. In Pattya, a resort town of about 70,000 people, there are 20,000 women working as prostitutes.
That's almost 40% of the population.
So, here is this Scottish worship band , standing on a stage adorned on every side with dancing poles, in the very midst of scantily clad women draping themselves over middle aged men and children being led by the hand up stairs into darkened rooms. They are proclaiming the name of Jesus in the midst of this chaos, speaking life into spirits that are crushed. And as they do that, the Lord gives the lead singer a new song to sing over this bar, over this town, over this nation.
"You are the God of this city...You are the King of these people...You are the Lord of this nation...You are....
I know it sounds crazy. What is a worship band from Scotland doing singing in a brothel in Thailand?
The very will of our Father in heaven, that's what.
I can't seem to get away from stories like these. I read
blogs from our World Racers and something inside me catches. I hear testimonies from
friends and I weep in front of the computer screen. A phrase keeps running through my head that I am not even sure who said it or where it came from
"In the midst of the greatest darkness will the greatest light come"
I see a stirring beginning to ripple throughout the body, especially in my generation. To enter into these dark places equipped with the authority of the Son, the heart of the Father, and the power of the Holy Spirit to speak life where there is death, hope where there is despair, and the Kingdom of heaven to crush the kingdom of this world.
I believe God is preparing His Bride for a time to truly step up and be a blazing flame of hope in the midst of a world that is growing darker and more chaotic by the minute. The brothels in Thailand are just a starting point.
So, here I sit in my cubicle in Gainesville, GA and wonder why the heck I can't get a place I've never been and a people I have never met out of my head....
I think this is what I was made for. I don't even really know what that means, but I would love your prayers as I try and figure this one out.
